Hand protector for pugilistic sports

ABSTRACT

A hand protection for combative types of sport has a flexible sheath of leather or imitation leather and an inset, elastic foam padding. In order to achieve optimum cushioning and shock absorption, the padding is made of a mould (1) formed in a single piece of highly shock-absorbing, open cellular polyurethane foam and having a region (2) covering the wrist, the back of the hand and the fingers that is curved in the transverse direction so as to match the natural curve of the hand and curved downwards in the longitudinal direction by approximately 90° in the area of the lower knuckles, having a reinforcement in that area. Furthermore, a flat thumb part (4) can be laterally formed on the same level as the hand part (2) to cover as an arch the upper side of the thumb in the hand protection sheath.

The invention relates to a hand protector for use in pugilistic sports,having a flexible cover of leather or imitation leather and insertedtherein a one-piece, elastic padding of foam.

A boxing glove designed according to these principles is known fromGerman published non-prosecuted application DE-OS 31 47 997. There, apre-formed flat body of a closed pore foam material is inserted into acorresponding cover, which does not have a separate section for thethumb, to reduce the danger of injury in boxing.

The closed pore foam material used, although highly elastic, showsalmost no damping effect or absorption of blows, it only resilientlyreturns or conducts the applied force practically unmodified.

In addition, this boxing glove is relatively impractical, since,although it provides basic protection for the thumb by enclosing thethumb in the main glove opening and avoids particularly the bending-outof the thumb during the fight, this has proven to be not very useful forthe freedom of movement of the hand.

Conventional boxing gloves do provide an elastically resilient filling;this filling, however, consists of fibers and/or plastic foam whichoffer only limited absorption of blows on the one hand, and on the otherhand they are compressed within the cover and may be displaced,especially at the hitting areas, so that after some use the blow paddingis no longer ascertained.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a handprotector for use in pugilistic sports such as, for example, boxing,kick boxing, Thai boxing and other all-contact types of fighting sports,which, although basically similar to a boxing glove on the outside,assures optimal reduction of impact forces, so that whiplashaccellerations to the brain are considerably reduced. Additionally, thishand protector is intended to be very resistant to fatigue, so thatthere is no fear of a change in the consistency and/or distribution ofthe filler.

To attain this object it is provided by the invention to make thepadding from a one-piece shaped body of highly cushioning, open porepolyurethane foam material, which is arched crosswise, corresponding tothe natural arch of the hand, on the outside and inside over its entirelength, and in the longitudinal direction is arched downwardly at anangle of approximately 90 in the region of the rear knuckles and isreinforced in this region. A flat thumb may thereby be connectedlaterally in the region of the palm of the hand, the thumb regionarchingly covering the upper surface of the thumb within the handprotector cover.

A highly cushioning effect is realized with such an insert of open porefoam material, i.e the impact forces are reduced to a high degree andare dissipated, thus simultaneously reducing the whiplash effects, whichhave a particularly negative effect on the brain. Additionally, theprovided shape of the foam body, after insertion into the cover of theglove, results in a form which approximates the position of a curvedhand made into a fist, so that only small additional force is requiredto close the hand completely.

It has proven particularly useful when in the region of the bulge of theplastic foam shaped body the radius of curvature of the outer surface isno larger than the radius of curvature of the inner surface and that theouter and inner surfaces approach each other approximatelyasymptotically towards the finger tips on the one end and towards thewrist at the other end. This creates reinforcement in the main area ofthe hand protector without necessitating discontinuous materialtransition regions.

It is furthermore useful to provide a cup-shaped arch on the foam bodylaterally in the region of the index finger opposite the tip of thethumb which covers the thumb when the fist is made. By means of this,blows, which impact the thumb from the front and which might causesprains, are safely prevented.

In order to also allow closing of the fist practically without exertionof force it is useful to provide the foam body on its underside in theregion of the rear knuckles with an indentation, nearly wedge-shaped incross section, extending crosswise over the body.

The region of the shaped body covering the wrist can be formed on theshaped body forming the back of the hand and the thumb via a flange ofsmall thickness. However, it is also possible to provide the piececovering the wrist as a separate shaped body completely surrounding it.

The cover of the hand protector usefully comprises a blank covering theupper and lateral surfaces of the shaped body, a blank covering theinside of the hand and thumb and a blank covering the wrist on theinside and outside, made of leather or imitation leather, which areconnected with each other, a fabric interlayer being worked in betweenthe blank for the upper surface of the hand and thumb and the blank forthe lower surface of the hand and thumb, which forms a separate chamberto receive the shaped foam body.

The wrist region may be separated by a wedge-shaped cut at the undersideto ease putting on the hand protector.

It is useful for improving the fit if an inwardly projecting strip isprovided as a grip in the top of the hand protector in the region of thefingertips. This strip may be in the form of a rand worked into thefabric interlayer in the transition region between the inner and outerblank of the cover.

To prevent the introduction of sweat from the wearer into the foammaterial, the shaped foam body may have a leather or imitation leatherlayer on the inside in the region of the back of the hand.

To make possible easier insertion of the shaped foam body into the handprotector it is useful to surround the shaped foam body with a thinsliding foil, in particular made of polyethylene, prior to insertioninto the cover, which materially reduces possible friction.

For additional optimization of a hand protector, it is provided by theinvention to form the closure of the hand protector in the region of thewrist solely by means of a Velcro band completely encircling the wrist.This makes possible quick and simple closing of the hand protector aswell as adaptation to varying thicknesses of the arm and wrist.Furthermore, a chance of injury is removed which was very often causedby the customary lacing which required covering with an adhesive strip.

Design and function of exemplary embodiments of the invention aredescribed in detail by means of schematic drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the shaped foam body obliquely frombelow,

FIG. 2 is a view directly from above of the shaped foam body,

FIG. 3 is a section along the line III--III of FIG. 1 through the handand finger region of the shaped body,

FIG. 4 is a section along the line IV--IV of FIG. 1 through the hand andthumb region of the shaped foam body,

FIG. 5 is a section through a finished hand protector,

FIG. 6 is a lateral view towards the side of the thumb of the handprotector,

FIG. 7 is a front view of the hand protector with thumb drawn in,

FIG. 8 is a view from below of the hand protector with the Velcro bandopen, and

FIG. 9 is a section through a finished hand protector according to afurther embodiment.

As shown in particular in FIGS. 1 and 2, the one-piece shaped body 1 ofopen pore foam material has a hand region 2 for covering the back of thehand and the fingers and, if desired, also of the wrist, and is archeddownwardly at an angle of approximately 90° in the finger region. A flatthumb region 4 is laterally formed in one piece on the hand region 2 andextends approximately at an angle of 20° to the lateral axis of the handregion 2. However, in special cases of use it is also possible to omitthis formed thumb region 4, as indicated by a dashed line, as will bedescribed later.

The extent of the finger region 3, angled off from the region 2 of theback of the hand, is clearly visible from the longitudinal sectionaccording to FIG. 3, corresponding to the section line III--III of FIG.1, the shaped body 1 showing a considerable bulge 5 in the transitionzone. In order to obtain this bulge 5, which is constantly thickening,out of the remainder of the shaped body region, the radius of curvatureof the outer surface 6 is smaller than that of the inner surface 7, asshown in the drawing, the outer and inner surfaces in their furtherextent drawing asymptotically closer in the region of the finger tips 3and towards the neck of the wrist 8.

The result of this described arching of the shaped body and thecorrespondingly disposed thickening is that the part of the hand, namelythe region of the back finger joints with which, when a fist is made,the punch is directly delivered and which must absorb the force of thepunch, is the most heavily protected and takes up a nearly verticalposition because of its shaping in order to achieve optimal effect.

To allow the closing of the fist practically without effort, anadditional cut 12, almost wedge-shaped in cross section and extendingcrosswise over the shaped body 2, may be provided on the underside 7 ofthe shaped body 2 in the region of the rear knuckles.

The cross section of FIG. 4, corresponding to the sectional line IV--IVof FIG. 1, shows that the hand region 2 is also arched crosswise,corresponding to the natural arching of the hand, on its inner surface 7in order to assure optimal fit. The edge 9, located further down becauseof the arching of the interior surface 7, is also visible in the crosssection according to FIG. 3. The extent of the cut 12 is also indicatedby dash-dotted lines.

Laterally to the hand region 2, a section through the thumb region 4,which has a flat underside 10 and an arched upper side 11, is shown. Inrelation to the width of the hand region 2, this thumb region 4 isrelatively broad, as shown in particular by the top view according toFIG. 2, so that it archingly covers, drawn down laterally to a greatdegree, the upper surface of the thumb after introduction into the thumbcover.

In accordance with the longitudinal section through a finished handprotector, shown in FIG. 5, the shaped foam body 2 is enclosed on theupper surface by a blank 20, which extends around the side edges of theshaped body 2 and which meets on the inner side the blank 21, coveringthe inside of the hand, and is sewn together with it. These parts 20 and21 are made of leather or of imitation leather. A fabric interlayer 22is sewn between the two blanks 20 and 21, thus sectioning off from theactual hand space 23 a separate chamber for receiving the shaped foambody 2. In the area of the fingertips 3, a grip in the form of a rand 25is worked into the fabric interlayer 22 in the region of the seam 24between the upper blank 20 and the lower blank 21, which can be grippedfrom behind by the fingertips in order to provide better guidance forthe lower point 3 of the hand protector and to pull it in to form afist.

The actual wrist region 30 is separately attached at the back end 8 ofthe shaped body 1. It has an almost completely circumferential shapedfoam body 31 enclosed by a cover 32, which is connected with the actualhand region via a seam 33. This wrist region 30 is divided on itsunderside by a wedge-shaped cut 34 for easing the insertion of the hand.The actual closure of the hand protector in the wrist region 30 isformed by a Velcro band 35 almost completely encircling the wrist, whichis shown freely hanging down. The complementary surface 36 for theVelcro band 35 can be seen on the upper surface of the wrist region.

This closure of a hand protector, which may also be in a different form,solely by a Velcro band 35 for one allows a secure seating, even withthe most diverse wrist thicknesses. Furthermore, the lacings customarilyused up to now are no longer necessary. They could only be tightened tothe correct degree with considerable effort and often were the cause ofserious injury to the opponent.

FIG. 6 shows a lateral view of the entire hand protector in thedirection of the thumb region 4. Here it can be seen that the thumbregion 4 now is flipped vertically downwards and is protected in thefront by the curved region 3. This view shows in particular that bymeans of the corresponding shape of the shaped foam body the finishedhand protector already practically provides the natural position of thefist, so that additional tightening forces for making a fist are hardlyrequired.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the hand protector, in which the thumb region4 tightly adjoins the finger region 3. By means of an additionallyprovided lateral arching 40 at the side of the index finger, as can alsobe seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 at the shaped foam body 1, the thumb is alsoprotected from above against direct blows and a uniform outer shape isthe result, which provides assured protection for the thumb.

Finally, FIG. 8 shows a view from below of a hand protector with theVelcro band 35 opened. The vertically angled thumb region 4, the bentfinger region 3 as well as the seam edge 24 between the upper blank 20and the palm blank 21 are particularly clearly discernible. In addition,air vents 41 have been cut into the palm 21. The wrist region 30 is openby means of a wedge-shaped slit 34 extending as far as the palm surface21 for easier insertion of the hand.

The shape of the shaped foam body of the hand protector for pugilisticsports described can also be slightly altered for various use andtraining purposes. For example, a hand protector used in sparring isprovided with thicker padding and, if desired, without a separate thumbsection.

FIG. 9 shows a cross-section of a further embodiment of the handprotector. The foam shaped body 1 is fully surrounded by a thin slidingfoil 52, for instance formed of polyethylene. Friction is greatlyreduced during the insertion into the cover 20 of the hand protector;this makes the finishing process a great deal easier.

Altogether, the result is an optimal hand protector which, because ofshape and choice of material for its padding, considerably adds toprotection from external and internal injuries. The impact forces aresafely dissipated by the properties of the material and whiplash, whichis of particular danger to the brain, is reduced.

I claim:
 1. A hand protector for pugilistic sports, comprising aflexible cover of a material selected from the group consisting ofleather and imitation leather, and an elastic padding of foam materialinserted in said flexible cover, said padding being made from aone-piece shaped body of highly cushioning, open pore polyurethane foammaterial, and having a main section including a wrist section forcovering the wrist, a hand section for covering the back of the hand anda finger section for covering the fingers, said main section beingprearched crosswise, corresponding to the natural arch of the hand, anddefining a downward arch in the longitudinal direction at an angle ofsubstantially 90° in the vicinity of the rear knuckles and forming abulge in the region of the downward arch, said elastic padding definingan outer surface with an outer radius of curvature and an inner surfacewith an inner radius of curvature, said outer radius of curvature in thevicinity of said bulge being at most equal to said inner radius ofcurvature, and said outer surface and said inner surface approachingeach other substantially asymptotically towards a region for thefingertips on the one end and towards the wrist at the other end.
 2. Thehand protector according to claim 1, wherein said main section defines agiven level, including a flat thumb section laterally formed on saidmain section at substantially said given level, said thumb sectionarchingly covering the upper surface of the thumb inside said flexiblecover.
 3. The hand protector according to claim 2, including a layer ofa material selected from the group consisting of leather and imitationleather disposed on said inner surface of said shaped foam body forcovering the back of the hand.
 4. The hand protector according to claim2, wherein said main section has a region for the index finger and saidthumb section has a forward tip, including a cup-shaped arch formed onsaid elastic padding laterally at said index finger region opposite saidforward tip of said thumb section, said cup-shaped arch covering thethumb when a fist is made.
 5. The hand protector according to claim 2,wherein said hand and thumb sections have a certain thickness andwherein said wrist section is formed on said hand section and said thumbsection via a flange of relatively smaller thickness.
 6. The handprotector according to claim 1, wherein said flexible padding has anunderside and a given axis extending crosswise in the region of the rearknuckles, said padding including an indentation formed therein extendingalong said given axis and being substantially wedge-shaped as seen in asection perpendicular to said given axis.
 7. The hand protectoraccording to claim 1, wherein said flexible padding has lateral surfaceslaterally adjacent said outer surface, said cover including an outerblank covering said outer surface and said lateral surfaces, an innerblank for covering the inside of the hand and thumb, and a wrist blankfor covering the wrist formed of a material selected from the groupconsisting of leather and imitation leather, said blanks being connectedwith each other, and an intermediate layer of fabric for covering theupper surface of the hand and thumb disposed between said outer andinner blanks, said shaped foam body being disposed between said outerblank and said intermediate layer.
 8. The hand protector according toclaim 7, wherein the hand and arm define a longitudinal axis, said innersurface having a wedge-shaped cut formed therein extending substantiallyalong said longitudinal axis and opening towards said wrist section. 9.The hand protector according to claim 7, including a hook-and-eye-typeband attached to said wrist region for closing the hand protector insaid wrist region, said band at least nearly encircling the wrist. 10.The hand protector according to claim 7, wherein the hand protectorterminates in a protector cap in the region of the finger tips, andwherein an inwardly projecting ridge to serve as finger grip is formedin the vicinity of said protector cap.
 11. The hand protector accordingto claim 10, wherein said ridge is in the form of a rand disposed insaid fabric intermediate layer between said outer and inner blanks. 12.The hand protector according to claim 7, wherein said shaped foam bodyis covered with a thin sliding foil prior to insertion into said cover.13. The hand protector according to claim 12, wherein said thin slidingfoil is made of polyethylene.
 14. A hand protector for pugilisticsports, comprising a flexible cover of a material selected from thegroup consisting of leather and imitation leather, and an elasticpadding of foam material inserted in said flexible cover, said paddingbeing made from a one-piece shaped body of highly cushioning, open porepolyurethane foam material, and having a main section including a handsection for covering the back of the hand and a finger section forcovering the fingers, a wrist section made as a separate shaped body forcompletely surrounding the wrist, said main section being prearchedcrosswise, corresponding to the natural arch of the hand, and defining adownward arch in the longitudinal direction at an angle of substantially90° in the vicinity of the rear knuckles and forming a bulge in theregion of the downward arch, said elastic padding defining an outersurface with an outer radius of curvature and an inner surface with aninner radius of curvature, said outer radius of curvature in thevicinity of said bulge being at most equal to said inner radius ofcurvature, and said outer surface and said inner surface approachingeach other substantially asymptotically towards a region for thefingertips on the one end and towards the wrist at the other end.